The most important item in any Ballywire video shoot is the Project Framework. This is the document that scopes out what you are looking for out of your video shoot, who needs to be interviewed and where. We also help organise the day with a running order per your instructions.

The handy thing about a Project Framework is that you can circulate to colleagues to ensure that everyone agrees with the approach and sign off before the record button is pressed. It also means none of your colleagues will come back to you later saying why didn’t you interview me!

Nowadays anyone with a mobile phone can shoot video. The reason we at Ballywire use the term Cinematographer is to differentiate between the operators we collaborate with and the amateur videographers who like to shoot stuff for Facebook.

Our colleagues are professionals with broadcast tv experience and really great at ensuring lovely shots and covering off the basic essentials like good sound. These guys have their work regularly featured on TV at home and abroad and have also collaborated with major brands throughout their entire careers.

They’re good!

If you’ve got a big company event coming up we all know there is a million and one things to do. The reason we advise having a Ballywire producer on site is to ensure that we can capture the video requirements on the day allowing you to concentrate on the important stuff like ensuring you have a great event!

Depending on the video package you sign up for, we can deliver the edit for you on the same day or according to the agreed timeline. Some people like to work in advance and release everything on the same day and this allows you to implement feedback for the video before release at a time you’d like!

When you have no experience of video production, being tasked with organising a video can be a daunting prospect. You have identified the videographer or production company you want to work with, what then? That’s when the work starts! To quote Roy Keane ‘Fail to prepare, Prepare to fail! Planning is key to you getting value for money.

When putting together plans for a short video, the best way to approach it is to think of it like getting ready for a powerpoint presentation, because great video content like in the movies should have a start middle and end.

Would you put together a Powerpoint or keynote presentation with no opening title slide or end slide? Whatever message you are trying to convey from a corporate video try and break it down into a start middle and end and that should help firming up on the proposed video timeline.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So when it comes to your own video production once you have considered what the key messages are, it’s worth considering how you intend illustrating your point.

In any video timeline there are 2 key elements – the interview clips and the shots of the event or company being featured, both of which need consideration before pressing record. When you are sending out your brief to the production company there should be a checklist for both. Who are the interviewees? what are the questions they will be answering? and where will we interview them? are all issues that should be dealt with in your brief.

The major issue when it comes to a webcast is your internet connection. Do you have a reliable upload speed? A broadband speed test will help you establish that and the quality of that connection will determine the type of picture you can send to the web. If you are in a conference centre its worth remembering that when your event is taking place delegates may also be using this connection so it’s worth looking into how you can ringfence that speed for your own webcast. (Chat to the IT guy!)

The keyword here is assets! If you are planning a video to tell the story of your year in product launches, award successes and media coverage it’s important to assemble all the bits and pieces in a folder first and then send them to the production company all in one go via dropbox or wetransfer.com. They will love you for this as theres nothing worse than assets arriving in dribs and drabs and blocking the mail server. Into that folder you can also put your guide powerpoint presentation to help the designers understand what goes where. Simple!